The Gangodawila Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne granted bail to former Colombo Additional Magistrate Thilina Gamage for alleged possession of an elephant calf without a valid license.

He was released on a cash bail of Rs 500,000 and four sureties of Rs 2.5 million each. He was banned from travelling abroad and was ordered to report to the CID on the last Sunday of each month.

The Gangodawila Magistrate heard the submissions by former Colombo Additional Magistrate Thilina Gamage and the Attorney General's Department earlier in the day.

Gamage has been named a suspect for allegedly possessing an elephant calf with no valid license.

The elephant named 'Sakura' was discovered from his residence in early 2015. Its value has been estimated at Rs 6.9 million, the CID informed court yesterday.

In his submissions today, Gamage said that he bought the elephant in good intention from a buyer by the name of Yatawara. If it did not have a valid license and had been captured from the wild, its fault lies not with him but the person who sold it to him, Gamage claimed.

Senior State Counsel Dilipa Peiris countered Gamage's arguments, saying that the individual named Yatawara was a mere figurehead. He is actually a welding mechanic and investigators were able to locate him at Rikillagaskada after considerable difficulties. He has given an affidavit where he says that he gave the elephant to Gamage, Peiris said.

It was also informed to court that the individual named Yatawara had since disappeared. It has to be investigated if Gamage had any involvement in this, Peiris also submitted.

Furthermore, the Senior State Counsel maintained that Gamage had disappeared for nearly 20 days without appearing at the CID or the courts. If he is granted bail, he could once again do the same, Peiris argued.

However, the Gangodawila Magistrate maintained that whether the particular elephant falls under the purview of the Public Properties Act cannot be determined without doubt since there had been a lisence earlier. Furthermore, the suspect is not in a position to interfere with witnesses as he had been interdicted by the Judicial Services Commission and does not function as a Magistrate any more, the court observed,